Reform UK chair quits in blow to Farage

Zia Yusuf has resigned as the chair of Reform UK after suggesting that it was "dumb" of the party's newest MP to ask the prime minister if he would ban burqas.

- Rowena Mason

Yusuf, a donor and businessman, said he was resigning after less than a year in the job because he did not believe working to get a Reform government elected was a good use of his time.

His departure is a blow to Nigel Farage as he tries to professionalise his rapidly growing party, with political rivals saying it shows the Reform leader cannot work with other senior figures without falling out.

Yusuf, who is Muslim, quit after a dispute about the party's handling of its position on burqas. Sarah Pochin, the new Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby, had pressed Keir Starmer on the issue in parliament on Wednesday, and Farage had also said on GB News that it was time for a debate about the issue.

Hours before resigning, Yusuf had posted on X saying it was "dumb" for a party to have asked the prime minister to ban burqas when this was not its own policy.

In a statement on X, Yusuf said: "Eleven months ago I became chairman of Reform. I've worked full-time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results. I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office." Yusuf has been working on Reform's new Elon Musk-style "department of government efficiency" (Doge) unit looking at cutting spending in councils where the party is in control.